Simple and Tasty Chicken Ramen Recipe

Ramen, the slurpable noodle soup that many know and love is one of the world’s most popular foods. It was the first noodle eaten in space, there is a CupNoodles museum in Japan, and it is the best selling item at the commissary in Riker’s Prison. And you know an inmate is not wrong about the delicious goodness of ramen! But, what might surprise you is just how simple it is to make this processed food classic from scratch!

For my ramen recipe, I am using chicken and a rich, umami, gulpable broth. The broth is seasoned with soy sauce and the earthy and smokey shiitake mushrooms. This gives this broth a darker color than some of those ramen seasoning packets.

My chicken ramen version is akin to the so called “oriental” (now soy sauce) of the Maruchan ramen. This was the one that was popular in my household and the smell of the soup was always intoxicating to me. I can vividly remember my dad coming home late from a business trip one evening after my mom did her best, and made us a delicacy of Kraft macaroni and cheese and cut up hot dogs. It was so good that I barely ate any. But then, when dad came home and put on a pot of that ramen, the smell wafted up to my bedroom and lead me to beg for soup, like a poor orphan child. Unfortunately, my dad thought I was awakened to welcome him home, but sorry pops, the soup called to me.

Now, I am making my very own version of chicken ramen in about 30 minutes. It has the same enticing aroma and rich flavor to fill your house with comfort. Try it next time you need that ramen fix!

Serves 4

Suggested Drink Pairing:

Might a I suggest a saketini while you cook!

Ingredients:

6 cups of chicken stock, store bought or homemade

1/4 cup of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

4 chicken breast

4 tea eggs

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of ginger, minced

8 ounces of shiitake mushrooms, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

8 ounces of spinach

2 packages of udon noodles

Sliced scallions for the pretty

Instructions:

1. Start by getting your chicken marinating in about half of each the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger.
2. Meanwhile, cook the udon noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop them from over cooking. I suggest cooking them separately to keep the broth pristine!
3. In a stock pot, add the rest of the sesame oil and saute the shiitake mushrooms and celery for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute, until it becomes fragrant. Pour in the rest of the soy sauce and chicken broth and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
4. While the broth is simmering, cook the chicken breast either by baking them for 20 minutes or by searing them in a frying pan for about 8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat. Set aside.
5. In the same frying pan, quickly saute the spinach.
6. To the simmering broth, add the udon noodles and bring to a boil one more time to heat up the noodles. Remove the soup from the heat.
7. To make the ramen, ladle the noodle soup into a bowl, top with the sliced chicken breast, spinach, tea egg, and a smattering of scallions. Itadakimasu!

If you like this, try my chicken pho for another noodle soup fix!